Fighting Roosters...

[Arya28]

Hi everyone,

So I know there is probably no magic answer to this, but was wondering if anyone has any advice. We have a bachelor flock of approximately 16 roosters. They were all getting along fine, and now some of them are starting to fight.

That are not aggressive towards us. I would be curious to know if anyone has found a way to fix this problem before. I know, laugh at me, but we don't want to eat them. I don't fault anyone who does, if that's what you choose to do, I just really don't want to.

Any advice would be appreciated! We don't want to separate them all if we don't have to. Thanks!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

How old are these birds? What amount of space are they housed in? Are there hens within sight?

 

[Arya28]

No hens within sight. They are about 6 months old. They have a lot of room, a big pen with a big tree to climb in. We let them free range sometimes too.

 

[h2oratt]

What breeds? My orps and polish rarely fight. But they do have a pecking order.

 

[sawilliams]

Re home them... that's my best suggestion. I've told my self and my husband a few times I don't want a rooster unless I'm ok with butching and eating the unneeded chickens. I understand not wanting to eat your pets, but you have to consider some roosters will continue at each other till death and the one the lives might then turn on another. If your flock is a particular breed and not a back yard mix you might be able to donate some to a local 4h group too

 

[Arya28]

They are all different breeds. Buff orpingtons, Easter eggers, ameraucanas, a black copper Marans, an australorpe, and a silkie. We had two male silkies in there, but the beta male was being beat up so we had to take him out and put him in a different pen. The majority are easter eggers and ameraucanas. Generally it seems like the roosters of the same breed don't fight, so maybe separating them by breed would be an option?

 

[sawilliams]

I imagine you could try, of course I tend to think in worst case scenario and picture 16 seperate rooster pens plus adding moor for future roosters...

Start by removing ones that fight the most. You might only need to removed 2-3 ring leaders. As long as the others settle back down you should be ok.

Personally right now I'm praying my 20w chicken will decide what it is (suppose to be a rooster, looks like a hen not crowing or laying) becuase I have another 10w chick that I'm sure is a rooster also and I don't have a back up plan to keep 2 roosters. Fortunately they are both Lavender Orpington so i should be able to re home one easily...

 

[Arya28]

Maybe if we separate the couple out that seem to be the antagonizers, and put them in a different pen, it'll settle down? The majority of them do seem to get along. The buff orpingtons don't get along with the rest, and sometimes the easter eggers scrap with each other, and sometimes my silkie antagonizes. Thankfully (knock on wood) we haven't had a bad fight yet, but since thy are scrapping a little I wondered if there's anything we could do to settle that down.

 

[The Moonshiner]

. They have a lot of room, a big pen with a big tree to climb in.

Not sure what your idea of a lot of room, a big pen is. May be different then mine.
Room and places to get away from each other when needed I believe is the key to success. Without knowing can't help much more then that.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

No hens within sight. They are about 6 months old. They have a lot of room, a big pen with a big tree to climb in. We let them free range sometimes too.

specifics of the poem, like dimensions in feet, are going yup be more helpful as "a lot of room" and "big pen" can mean different things to different people.
At 6 months the surge of hormones that comes with chicken maturity are likely a big factor in the shift of dynamics